Iso PvP Blizz Build

[magikod]

Title says all. I need a pvp blizz sorc build.

I want stats, charms, skills, gear, and what level (with all skill quests) the char should be complete.

[DF-Naphtali]

Fire Skills

Skill 1: Warmth
In-game Description: "Passive -- increases the rate at which you recover mana."
Required Clvl: 1
Data:
================================================
slvl Percentage | slvl Percentage
================================================
1 30% | 26 330%
2 42% | 27 342%
3 54% | 28 354%
4 66% | 29 366%
5 78% | 30 378%
6 90% | 31 390%
7 102% | 32 402%
8 114% | 33 414%
9 126% | 34 426%
10 138% | 35 438%
11 150% | 36 450%
12 162% | 37 462%
13 174% | 38 474%
14 186% | 39 486%
15 198% | 40 498%
16 210% | 41 510%
17 222% | 42 522%
18 234% | 43 534%
19 246% | 44 546%
20 258% | 45 558%
21 270% | 46 570%
22 282% | 47 582%
23 294% | 48 594%
24 306% | 49 606%
25 318% | 50 618%
================================================


Recommended Points: 1
Purpose: Passive mana regeneration acts as almost extra mana. Maxing it has ample returns, but it’s better to spend those valuable skills points elsewhere and just let +skills do the work for you.

Lightning Skills

Skill 1: Charged Bolt
Required Clvl: 1
Synergies: Lightning: +6% lightning damage per slvl
In-game Description: "Creates multiple, randomly directed bolts of electrical energy."
Recommended Points: 1
Purpose: Prerequisite if you plan on getting energy shield, which I personally prefer to have; however, it’s fun to duel pathetically weak friends and laugh when they die of charged bolt.
Notes: Number of bolts was capped at 24 in beta even if the char screen showed higher; not sure if it’s still that way now.

Skill 2: Telekinesis
In-game Description: "Uses the power of your mind to pick up items, use objects, and knock back enemies."
Required Clvl: 6
Recommended Points: 1
Purpose: Most people just get it as a prerequisite to Teleport, but I think it’s one of the most underrated skills in the game. It saves time on MF runs because you can activate wps and take tps with it, it allows you to pick up that crucial potion in the distance or hit that exp shrine during a baal run, and it allows you to lend help to your mercenary when he is taking on a cold immune by stunning that monster every now and then. With two or three sorcs all casting telekinesis at once, the results are quite impressive. My Blizzard Sorc, my friend’s Fire Sorc, and my other friend’s Orb Sorc frequently Baal together. When we run into fire immune cold immune Lister, all we have to do is all cast telekinesis, stunlocking him, while our 3 mercs own him without much trouble. Last of all, TK makes Energy Shield more efficient. More points into TK will mean less mana is required to absorb every 1 hp of damage. Note that +skills will NOT count towards this bonus.
Notes: A set mana cost of 7, a 35% chance of knockback/stun, and a range of 16.6 yards.

Skill 3: Static Field
In-game Description: "Creates an electrical field that reduces life of all nearby enemies."
Required Clvl: 6
Recommended Points: 1 (Some people get more, but with just one point and +skills, the range is truly more than enough)
Data:
================================================
slvl Radius | slvl Radius
================================================
1 3.3 | 26 20.0
2 4.0 | 27 20.6
3 4.6 | 28 21.3
4 5.3 | 29 22.0
5 6.0 | 30 22.6
6 6.6 | 31 23.3
7 7.3 | 32 24.0
8 8.0 | 33 24.6
9 8.6 | 34 25.3
10 9.3 | 35 26.0
11 10.0 | 36 26.6
12 10.6 | 37 27.3
13 11.3 | 38 28.0
14 12.0 | 39 28.6
15 12.6 | 40 29.3
16 13.3 | 41 30.0
17 14.0 | 42 30.6
18 14.6 | 43 31.3
19 15.3 | 44 32.0
20 16.0 | 45 32.6
21 16.6 | 46 33.3
22 17.3 | 47 34.0
23 18.0 | 48 34.6
24 18.6 | 49 35.3
25 19.3 | 50 36.0
================================================


Purpose: Static is one of the most useful spells in the game. Every cast instantly takes out 25% of a monster’s current health. While this is useless against, say, a Fallen, against Baal or Diablo Static is hard to do without. In summary: use it on bosses or difficult enemies. Against Cold Immunes, static them and then let your mercenary/other players kill them.
Notes: There is a “Static Health Cap” in NM and Hell difficulties. When a monster is below this much health, static will automatically miss them, rendering static useless. The trick is to static them until you see that the little static graphic on them has disappeared. My description sounds vague, but trust me, you’ll see what I’m talking about. The cap in NM is 33% and the cap in hell is 50%.
Because of the way static works, each successive cast does less damage to an enemy. Below is a chart that graphs this fact.

Casts | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
================================================
Life% | 100.0 75.0 56.3 42.2 31.6 23.7 17.8 13.3 10.0



However, Static Field is affected by enemy Lightning Resist. The higher the enemy lightning resist is, the less percentage damage they will take per cast. For example, Uber Diablo is hardly damaged at all by Static. The same holds true for the PvP damage penalty, making static utterly useless in duels.

Skill 4: Lightning
Required Clvl: 12
Synergies: CB, CL, and Nova: +8% Lightning Dmg per Slvl
In-game Description: "Creates a powerful lightning bolt to lay waste to your enemies."
Recommended Points: 1
Purpose: Prerequisite if you plan on getting energy shield, which I personally prefer to have

Skill 5: Chain Lightning
Required Clvl: 18
Synergies: CB, Lightning, and Nova: +4% Lightning Dmg per Slvl
In-game Description: "Creates a bolt of lightning that arcs through several targets."
Recommended Points: 1
Purpose: Prerequisite if you plan on getting energy shield, which I personally prefer to have

Skill 6: Teleport
Required Clvl: 18
In-game Description: "Instantly moves to a destination within your line of sight."
Data:
================================================
slvl Mana | slvl Mana | slvl Mana
================================================
1 24 | 11 14 | 21 4
2 23 | 12 13 | 22 3
3 22 | 13 12 | 23 2
4 21 | 14 11 | 24+ 1
5 20 | 15 10 |
6 19 | 16 9 |
7 18 | 17 8 |
8 17 | 18 7 |
9 16 | 19 6 |
10 15 | 20 5 |
================================================


Recommended Points: 1
Purpose: Increases your movement rate by 123891281329 times. Invaluable for fast MF runs, avoiding the enemy in PvP. and getting to your target fast in PvM.
Notes: This is basically the only skill you will need FCR for, except for telekinesis stunlock.

Skill 7: Energy Shield
Required Clvl: 24
Synergies: Telekinesis (see notes)
In-game Description: “Creates a magical shield that consumes mana instead of health when you take damage."
Data:
================================================
slvl Duration Absorb | slvl Duration Absorb
================================================
1 144 20% | 26 1344 81%
2 192 25% | 27 1392 82%
3 240 30% | 28 1440 83%
4 288 35% | 29 1488 84%
5 336 40% | 30 1536 85%
6 384 45% | 31 1584 86%
7 432 50% | 32 1632 87%
8 480 55% | 33 1680 88%
9 528 57% | 34 1728 89%
10 576 59% | 35 1776 90%
11 624 61% | 36 1824 91%
12 672 63% | 37 1872 92%
13 720 65% | 38 1920 93%
14 768 67% | 39 1968 94%
15 816 69% | 40 2016 95%
16 864 71% | 41 2064 95%
17 912 72% | 42 2112 95%
18 960 73% | 43 2160 95%
19 1008 74% | 44 2208 95%
20 1056 75% | 45 2256 95%
21 1104 76% | 46 2304 95%
22 1152 77% | 47 2352 95%
23 1200 78% | 48 2400 95%
24 1248 79% | 49 2448 95%
25 1296 80% | 50 2596 95%
================================================



Recommended Points: 1
Purpose: Acts as extra life for you.
Notes: Telekinesis synergizes with Energy Shield, but exactly how is unknown to most people. Let me clear this up for you. With zero points in Energy Shield (which is technically impossible since TK is a synergy to Energy Shield), for every one damage you would normally take and is absorbed into the Energy Shield, you lose two mana. With every point into Telekinesis, this 2:1 (Mana Lost:HP Absorbed) ratio decreases, and less mana is lost to absorb one hp of damage. Here is a chart that graphs this:
================================================
TK Mana | TK Mana
slvl Lost | slvl Lost
================================================
1 1.9375 | 8 1.5
2 1.875 | 12 1.25
3 1.8125 | 16 1.0
4 1.75 | 20 0.75
================================================


Although Energy Shield is an excellent defensive skill, it isn’t without drawbacks. It won’t protect you against Blood Mana (that Succubi curse that causes your spells to drain hp instead of mana) or Poison, and will end up hurting you against Mana Burns.

Cold Skills

Skill 1: Ice Bolt
In-game Description: "Creates a magical bolt of ice that damages and slows your enemies."
Required Clvl: 1
Synergies: Frost Nova, Ice Blast, Glacial Spike, Frozen Orb, and Blizzard: +15% cold dmg per slvl
Data:
================================================
Cold Cold | Cold Cold
slvl Damage Length | slvl Damage Length
================================================
1 3- 5 6.0 | 26 60- 74 41.0
2 4- 6 7.4 | 27 64- 79 42.4
3 5- 8 8.8 | 28 68- 83 43.8
4 6- 9 10.2 | 29 73- 89 45.2
5 7- 11 11.6 | 30 78- 94 46.6
6 8- 12 13.0 | 31 83-100 48.0
7 9- 14 14.4 | 32 88-105 49.4
8 10- 15 15.8 | 33 93-111 50.8
9 12- 18 17.2 | 34 98-116 52.2
10 14- 20 18.6 | 35 103-122 53.6
11 16- 23 20.0 | 36 108-127 55.0
12 18- 25 21.4 | 37 113-133 56.4
13 20- 28 22.8 | 38 118-138 57.8
14 22- 30 24.2 | 39 123-144 59.2
15 24- 33 25.6 | 40 128-149 60.6
16 26- 35 27.0 | 41 133-155 62.0
17 29- 39 28.4 | 42 138-160 63.4
18 32- 42 29.8 | 43 143-166 64.8
19 35- 46 31.2 | 44 148-171 66.2
20 38- 49 32.6 | 45 153-177 67.6
21 41- 53 34.0 | 46 158-182 69.0
22 44- 56 35.4 | 47 163-188 70.4
23 48- 61 36.8 | 48 168-193 71.8
24 52- 65 38.2 | 49 173-199 73.2
25 56- 70 39.6 | 50 178-204 74.6
================================================


Recommended Points: After you’re finished with everything else, put the rest of your points here
Purpose: Prerequisite to Blizzard and Shiver Armor, and synergy to Blizzard.

Skill 2: Frozen Armor
In-game Description: “Increases your defense rating and freezes enemies that hit you."
Required Clvl: 1
Synergies: Shiver Armor and Chilling Armor: +10 seconds and +5% freeze length per slvl
Data:
================================================
Freeze | Freeze
slvl Duration Defense Length | slvl Duration Defense Length
================================================
1 120 30% 1.2 | 26 420 155% 4.2
2 132 35% 1.3 | 27 432 160% 4.3
3 144 40% 1.4 | 28 444 165% 4.4
4 156 45% 1.5 | 29 456 170% 4.5
5 168 50% 1.6 | 30 468 175% 4.6
6 180 55% 1.8 | 31 480 180% 4.8
7 192 60% 1.9 | 32 492 185% 4.9
8 204 65% 2.0 | 33 504 190% 5.0
9 216 70% 2.1 | 34 516 195% 5.1
10 228 75% 2.2 | 35 528 200% 5.2
11 240 80% 2.4 | 36 540 205% 5.4
12 252 85% 2.5 | 37 552 210% 5.5
13 264 90% 2.6 | 38 564 215% 5.6
14 276 95% 2.7 | 39 576 220% 5.7
15 288 100% 2.8 | 40 588 225% 5.8
16 300 105% 3.0 | 41 600 230% 6.0
17 312 110% 3.1 | 42 612 235% 6.1
18 324 115% 3.2 | 43 624 240% 6.2
19 336 120% 3.3 | 44 636 245% 6.3
20 348 125% 3.4 | 45 648 250% 6.4
21 360 130% 3.6 | 46 660 255% 6.6
22 372 135% 3.7 | 47 672 260% 6.7
23 384 140% 3.8 | 48 684 265% 6.8
24 396 145% 3.9 | 49 696 270% 6.9
25 408 150% 4.0 | 50 708 275% 7.0
================================================


Recommended Points: After you’re finished with everything else, put the rest of your points here
Purpose: Prerequisite to Shiver Armor for most people, but some people will use it over Shiver Armor. It gives considerably less defense, but it will freeze melee attackers instead of merely slowing them down.

Skill 3: Frost Nova
In-game Description: "Creates an expanding ring of ice that damages and slows all nearby enemies."
Required Clvl: 6
Synergies: Blizzard and Frozen Orb: +10% Cold dmg per slvl
Recommended Points: 1
Purpose: Prerequisite to Blizzard.

Skill 4: Ice Blast
In-game Description: "Creates a magical sphere of ice that damages and freezes your enemy."
Required Clvl: 12
Synergies: Ice Bolt, Blizzard, and Frozen Orb: +8% cold dmg per slvl; Glacial Spike: +10% freeze length per slvl
Data:
================================================
Freeze | Freeze
slvl Cold Damage Length Mana | slvl Cold Damage Length Mana
================================================
1 8- 12 3.0 6.0 | 26 407- 423 8.0 18.5
2 15- 19 3.2 6.5 | 27 435- 452 8.2 19.0
3 22- 27 3.4 7.0 | 28 463- 480 8.4 19.5
4 29- 34 3.6 7.5 | 29 498- 516 8.6 20.0
5 36- 42 3.8 8.0 | 30 533- 551 8.8 20.5
6 43- 49 4.0 8.5 | 31 568- 587 9.0 21.0
7 50- 57 4.2 9.0 | 32 603- 622 9.2 21.5
8 57- 64 4.4 9.5 | 33 638- 658 9.4 22.0
9 71- 79 4.6 10.0 | 34 673- 693 9.6 22.5
10 85- 93 4.8 10.5 | 35 708- 729 9.8 23.0
11 99- 108 5.0 11.0 | 36 743- 764 10.0 23.5
12 113- 122 5.2 11.5 | 37 778- 800 10.2 24.0
13 127- 137 5.4 12.0 | 38 813- 835 10.4 24.5
14 141- 151 5.6 12.5 | 39 848- 871 10.6 25.0
15 155- 166 5.8 13.0 | 40 883- 906 10.8 25.5
16 169- 180 6.0 13.5 | 41 918- 942 11.0 26.0
17 190- 202 6.2 14.0 | 42 953- 977 11.2 26.5
18 211- 223 6.4 14.5 | 43 988-1013 11.4 27.0
19 232- 245 6.6 15.0 | 44 1023-1048 11.6 27.5
20 253- 266 6.8 15.5 | 45 1058-1084 11.8 28.0
21 274- 288 7.0 16.0 | 46 1093-1119 12.0 28.5
22 295- 309 7.2 16.5 | 47 1128-1155 12.2 29.0
23 323- 338 7.4 17.0 | 48 1163-1190 12.4 29.5
24 351- 366 7.6 17.5 | 49 1198-1226 12.6 30.0
25 379- 395 7.8 18.0 | 50 1233-1261 12.8 30.5
================================================


Recommended Points: 20
Purpose: Prerequisite to Blizzard and Shiver Armor and synergy to Blizzard.


Skill 5: Shiver Armor
In-game Description: "Increases your defense rating, freezes and damages enemies that hit you."
Required Clvl: 12
Synergies: Frozen Armor and Chilling Armor: +10 seconds and +9% cold dmg per clvl.

================================================
Mana Cost: 11
================================================
Cold Cold
slvl Duration Defense Damage Length
================================================
1 120 45% 6- 8 4
2 132 51% 8- 10 4
3 144 57% 10- 13 4
4 156 63% 12- 15 4
5 168 69% 14- 18 4
6 180 75% 16- 20 4
7 192 81% 18- 23 4
8 204 87% 20- 25 4
9 216 93% 23- 29 5
10 228 99% 26- 32 6
11 240 105% 29- 36 7
12 252 111% 32- 39 8
13 264 117% 35- 43 9
14 276 123% 38- 46 10
15 288 129% 41- 50 11
16 300 135% 44- 53 12
17 312 141% 48- 58 14
18 324 147% 52- 62 16
19 336 153% 56- 67 18
20 348 159% 60- 71 20
21 360 165% 64- 76 22
22 372 171% 68- 80 24
23 384 177% 73- 86 26
24 396 183% 78- 91 28
25 408 189% 83- 97 30
26 420 195% 88-102 32
27 432 201% 93-108 34
28 444 207% 98-113 36
29 456 213% 104-120 38
30 468 219% 110-126 40
31 480 225% 116-133 42
32 492 231% 122-139 44
33 504 237% 128-146 46
34 516 243% 134-152 48
35 528 249% 140-159 50
36 540 255% 146-165 52
37 552 261% 152-172 54
38 564 267% 158-178 56
39 576 273% 164-185 58
40 588 279% 170-191 60
41 600 285% 176-198 62
42 612 291% 182-204 64
43 624 297% 188-211 66
44 636 303% 194-217 68
45 648 309% 200-224 70
46 660 315% 206-230 72
47 676 321% 212-237 74
48 684 327% 218-243 76
49 696 333% 224-250 78
50 708 339% 230-256 80
================================================


Recommended Points: 1
Purpose: An excellent defensive skill. It provides a dramatic boost to your defense, and chills any melee attackers that attack you, helping you prevent a stunlock.
Notes: This is the best out of the three cold armors. It has the highest defense boost out of the three, and the chilling of melee attackers is much more useful than the chilling of ranged attackers that Chilling Armor provides.

Skill 6: Glacial Spike
In-game Description: "Creates a magical ice comet that freezes or kills nearby enemies."
Required Clvl: 18
Synergies: Ice Bolt, Ice Blast, and Frozen Orb: +5% cold dmg per slvl; Blizzard: +3% freeze length per lvl
Data:
================================================
Cold Freeze | Cold Freeze
slvl Damage Length Mana | slvl Damage Length Mana
================================================
1 16- 24 2.0 10.0 | 26 313-333 5.0 22.5
2 23- 31 2.1 10.5 | 27 328-349 5.1 23.0
3 30- 39 2.2 11.0 | 28 343-364 5.2 23.5
4 37- 46 2.3 11.5 | 29 359-381 5.3 24.0
5 44- 54 2.4 12.0 | 30 375-397 5.4 24.5
6 51- 61 2.6 12.5 | 31 391-414 5.6 25.0
7 58- 69 2.7 13.0 | 32 407-430 5.7 25.5
8 65- 76 2.8 13.5 | 33 423-447 5.8 26.0
9 78- 90 3.9 14.0 | 34 439-463 5.9 26.5
10 91-103 3.0 14.5 | 35 455-480 6.0 27.0
11 104-117 3.2 15.0 | 36 471-496 6.2 27.5
12 117-130 3.3 15.5 | 37 487-513 6.3 28.0
13 130-144 3.4 16.0 | 38 503-529 6.4 28.5
14 143-157 3.5 16.5 | 39 519-546 6.5 29.0
15 156-171 3.6 17.0 | 40 535-562 6.6 29.5
16 169-184 3.8 17.5 | 41 551-579 6.8 30.0
17 183-199 3.9 18.0 | 42 567-595 6.9 30.5
18 197-213 4.0 18.5 | 43 583-612 7.0 31.0
19 211-228 4.1 19.0 | 44 599-628 7.1 31.5
20 225-242 4.2 19.5 | 45 615-645 7.2 32.0
21 239-257 4.4 20.0 | 46 631-661 7.4 32.5
22 253-271 4.5 20.5 | 47 647-678 7.5 33.0
23 268-287 4.6 21.0 | 48 663-694 7.6 33.5
24 283-302 4.7 21.5 | 49 679-711 7.7 34.0
25 298-318 4.8 22.0 | 50 695-727 7.8 34.5
================================================


Recommended Points: 20
Purpose: Prerequisite and synergy to Blizzard. Also, because of its splash freezing effect and decent damage, it is the perfect spell to shoot during the cooldown time of blizzard. This will be your secondary attack spell. When you see the usually unspeakably fast Ventar the Unholy frozen in place, you’ll know why this spell just rocks.
Notes: It has a set radius of 2.6 yards. The freezing duration, like all freezing and chilling durations, is halved in NM and cut to one-fourth in Hell.

Skill 7: Blizzard
In-game Description: "Summons massive shards of ice to destroy your enemies."
Required Clvl: 24
Synergies: Ice Bolt, Ice Blast, and Glacial Spike: +5% cold dmg per slvl
Data:
================================================
slvl Cold Damage Mana | slvl Cold Damage Mana
================================================
1 45- 75 23 | 26 880- 935 48
2 60- 91 24 | 27 935- 991 49
3 75- 107 25 | 28 990-1047 50
4 90- 123 26 | 29 1055-1113 51
5 105- 139 27 | 30 1120-1179 52
6 120- 155 28 | 31 1185-1245 53
7 135- 171 29 | 32 1250-1311 54
8 150- 187 30 | 33 1315-1377 55
9 180- 218 31 | 34 1380-1443 56
10 210- 249 32 | 35 1445-1509 57
11 240- 280 33 | 36 1510-1575 58
12 270- 311 34 | 37 1575-1641 59
13 300- 342 35 | 38 1640-1707 60
14 330- 373 36 | 39 1705-1773 61
15 360- 404 37 | 40 1770-1839 62
16 390- 435 38 | 41 1835-1905 63
17 435- 481 39 | 42 1900-1971 64
18 480- 527 40 | 43 1965-2037 65
19 525- 573 41 | 44 2030-2103 66
20 570- 619 42 | 45 2095-2169 67
21 615- 665 43 | 46 2160-2235 68
22 660- 711 44 | 47 2225-2301 69
23 715- 767 45 | 48 2290-2367 70
24 770- 823 46 | 49 2355-2433 71
25 825- 879 47 | 50 2420-2499 72
================================================


Recommended Points: 20
Purpose: Your main attack spell. Why Blizzard? It does the highest damage per shard out of any of the cold skills, hits multiple enemies multiple times, and is versatile enough to take on both crowds and single enemies (though it truly shines against crowds; you should see Lister and his gang die in one blizzard)
Notes: It has a fixed, horribly short cold duration of 4 seconds, which is cut to 1 second in hell. This is why you need to make sure you use Glacial Spike. You cannot cast Blizzard where there is no ground (ie in the Arcane Sanctuary). The Blizzard has a radius of 4.6 yards. Blizzard averages 6.2 shards per second over a duration of four seconds. It has a cast delay of 1.8 seconds, enough to cast 2-3 Glacial Spikes, depending on your cast rate.

Skill 8: Cold Mastery
In-game Description: "Passive -- increases all damage caused by your cold attacks by piercing enemies resistances to cold."
Required Clvl: 30
Data:
================================================
slvl Percentage | slvl Percentage
================================================
1 20% | 26 145%
2 25% | 27 150%
3 30% | 28 155%
4 35% | 29 160%
5 40% | 30 165%
6 45% | 31 170%
7 50% | 32 175%
8 55% | 33 180%
9 60% | 34 185%
10 65% | 35 190%
11 70% | 36 195%
12 75% | 37 200%
13 80% | 38 205%
14 85% | 39 210%
15 90% | 40 215%
16 95% | 41 220%
17 100% | 42 225%
18 105% | 43 230%
19 110% | 44 235%
20 115% | 45 240%
21 120% | 46 245%
22 125% | 47 250%
23 130% | 48 255%
24 135% | 49 260%
25 140% | 50 265%
================================================


Recommended Points: 20
Purpose: Pierces enemy resistances to cold: actually adds more damage to blizzard than any of its synergies according to a few of the skill calculators I checked, at least for the first few levels.
Notes: Works differently than other synergies. Instead of actually directly increasing the damage of all cold skills, it lowers enemy resistances to cold, which is extremely useful against enemies with high cold resist. For example, against Uber Diablo, who has 95 cold resist, slvl 16 cold mastery will allow you to do TWENTY times your normal damage. Against Meph who has (I think) 75 cold resist, lvl 12 cold mastery will triple your damage. However, against enemies with less cold resist, it is not as useful. And sadly, cold mastery DOES NOT affect cold immunes.

Summary:
20 Points Blizzard
20 points Glacial Spike
20 points Ice Blast
20 points Cold Mastery
As much as Possible into Ice Bolt
1 Teleport
1 Shiver Armor
1 Energy Shield
1 Warmth
All Prereqs

Stats

Strength: Just enough for equipment
Dex: Base, unless you want to get up to max block (see appendix for details)
Vitality: Rest of points.
Energy: Base for a No Energy Shield build, enough for 800-900 mana for MFing, and around 1.2k for PvM.

Equipment

Stats for all equipment are in the appendix. MF Items are later in guide. Note: Items in the “Decent to Good Choices” section that are in red are good to the point that it is debatable whether they should be the top choice or not.

Ammy:

*TOP CHOICE*:
Mara's
Decent to Good Choices:
+3 Cold Skills Ammy
Tals Ammy
Rare Ammy with +life, mana, +2 sorc skills, fcr, etc.
Telling of Beads
Highlord’s Wrath

Armor:

*TOP CHOICE*:
Chains of Honor
Decent to Good Choices:
Skin of the Vipermagi
Enigma Breastplate/Archon/Dusk (With Breast Plate, you can leave STR as base)
Ormus’s Robes (preferably +3 Blizzard)
Que-Hegan’s Wisdom
Naj’s Light Plate

Helm:

*TOP CHOICE*:
Harlequin Crest
Decent to Good Choices
Nightwing’s Veil
Tarnhelm
Sazabi’s Mental Sheath
Peasant Crown
Delirium
Tals Mask

Weapon:

*TOP CHOICE*:
Death’s Fathom
Decent to Good Choices:
Rare Orb with +2 sorc skills, +2 cold skills, +3 blizzard, etc.
Eschuta's Temper
Mang Song's Lesson
Wizardspike
HOTO
The Oculus
Tal’s Orb

Weapon (switch):
Only one choice: Call to Arms. Battle Orders pwns.

Rings:

*TOP CHOICE*: The Stone of Jordan
Decent to Good Choices:
Wisp Projector
BK Ring
Manald Heal
Raven Frost
Nature’s Peace

Belt:

*TOP CHOICE*: Arachnid Mesh
Decent to Good Choices:
Snowclash
Trang-oul’s Girth
Verdungo’s Hearty Cord
Gloom’s Trap
Credendum

Shield:

*TOP CHOICE* :
Your choice between Lidless, Sanctuary, and Stormshield. It’s a matter of personal opinion, really. Sanctuary gives a huge resist boost, Lidless gives +1 skills, mana, and FCR, and SS has DR.
Decent to Good Choices:
Wall of the Eyeless (FCR and triumphant)
Viscertaunt (+1 sorc skills)

Boots:

*TOP CHOICE*:
Sandstorm Trek
Decent to Good Choices:
Silkweave
Waterwalk
War Traveler

Gloves:

*TOP CHOICE*:
Frostburn
Decent to Good Choices:
Magefist
Bloodfist
Trang-oul’s Claws

Charms:
Annihilus, cold charms, vita charms, resist charms, etc.

MFing Equipment!

Pure MF MFer Setup: This setup goes for the highest amount of MF possible while sacrificing some killing speed (but not too much, obviously).

Ammy:
50 MF Ammy (magic amulet with both MF suffix and prefix)
+cold skills, 35 mf ammy
resists, 35 mf ammy
Helm:
Shako
Griz Helm (Two Ptopaz’d)
Weapon:
Occy
HOTO
Death’s Fathom
Weapon Switch:
Ali Baba
Gull
6-Ist Weapon
Shield:
Lidless
Stormshield
Sanctuary
Shield Switch:
Rhyme
4-Ist Monarch
Body Armor:
Skullders
Rings:
30% Nagels
35 MF rings (magic rings with both MF suffix and prefix)
Belt:
Goldwrap (preferably upgraded, you want those 16 potion slots)
Boots:
War Traveler
Gloves:
Chance Guards
Charms:
Gheeds
7 smfcs
Cold Charms
Annis

Power MFer Setup #1: This setup strikes for a balance between killing power and MF. This setup is used by many people, but I prefer Power MFer Setup #2. Basically you try to hit about 500 MF, and then go for the fastest runs possible. Defense takes a back seat to power.

Ammy:
+cold skills, 35 mf ammy
resists, 35 mf ammy
Mara’s
Tals Ammy
Helm:
Shako
Weapon:
Occy
HOTO
Death’s Fathom
Weapon Switch:
Ali Baba
Gull
6-Ist Weapon
Shield:
Lidless
Shield Switch:
Rhyme
4-Ist Monarch
Body Armor:
Skullders
Rings:
SOJs
BK Rings
Belt:
Goldwrap (preferably upgraded, you want those 16 potion slots)
Boots:
War Traveler
Gloves:
Chance Guards
Charms:
Gheeds
7 smfcs
Cold Charms
Annis

Power MFer Setup #2: Same premise as #1. My favorite MF build. It has an incredible balance between defense, MF, and power. With this, you’ll be hitting the 68 FCR breakpoint, doing good dmg, have nice resists+life+mana, and have a good amount of MF. This build takes advantage of the 65 MF Set Bonus that comes from 3 items of the Tals set.

Ammy:
Tals Ammy
Helm:
Shako
Weapon:
Occy
HOTO
Death’s Fathom
Weapon Switch:
Ali Baba
Gull
6-Ist Weapon
Shield:
Lidless
Sanctuary
Stormshield
Shield Switch:
Rhyme
4-Ist Monarch
Body Armor:
Tals Armor
Rings:
SOJs
BK Rings
Belt:
Tals Belt
Boots:
War Traveler
Gloves:
Chance Guards
Charms:
Gheeds
7 smfcs
Cold Charms
Annis

Cheap Man’s MF: This setup takes some of the cheapest items available and builds a decent MFer out of them. Preferably, use this build on nm meph and be persistent. Eventually you’ll find items such as Lidless, Occy, and Vmagi (off of nm meph at least). Hell Pindle is very, very easy for a Blizzard Sorc, so you might find him an option too.

Ammy:
Tancred’s Ammy (Ammy+Boots=84 MF set bonus)
Helm:
Tarnhelm
Weapon:
Any Orb with Good Mods will do, but if you find a nice staff like Chromatic Ire, use that
Weapon Switch: (these shouldn’t be too hard to find)
Ali Baba
Gull
Shield:
Viscretaunt (dunno how to spell that)
Shield Switch:
Rhyme
Milabreaga’s Shield
Body Armor:
Skin of Vipermagi (fairly cheap)
Stealth {TalEth}
Rings:
Nagels
Belt:
Goldwrap (preferably upgraded, you want those 16 potion slots)
Boots:
Tancred’s Boots
Gloves:
Chance Guards (common enough)
Magic/Rare MF Gloves
Charms:
Random SCs with life/mana/mf work well enough

MFing Strategies

There’s a whole lot more to MFing than most people know, and maximizing your MF runs takes more than just average knowledge of the game. Here are some tips on various places where I MF:

The Pit:

New in 1.10, the Pit has been quite popular for finding elite socketed items such as 3 sock archons and eth zerkers. A Blizzard Sorc will encounter some trouble in the Pit, but will be able to do Pit runs decently nonetheless. The first thing to know when doing pit runs is this: screw pride. You’re going to have to skip past all the cold immunes if you want to do these runs in a decent time. Find the packs of Dark Archers and Devilkins, Blizzard those to death, and then move on.

The Countess:

The Countess has the highest chance to drop the majority of the runes in the game. She is guaranteed to drop at least one rune each run. However, she can only drop up to Vex. This is still high enough to get nice runes such as Um, Mal, Ist, and Vex. There’s only one big problem with Countess runs: the Countess and all her minions are immune to cold. If you want to do the countess, you MUST HAVE A GOOD MERCENARY. Another problem, though much more minor, is finding all 5 levels of stairs can be a pain. However, something in the randomization code apparently places the next flight of stairs always to your character’s left. So when you enter each new level of the Forgotten Tower, hug the wall to your character’s left and you’ll find the next level NEARLY (but not always) every time. Trust me, this works. Those of you with maphack can even look and confirm it. Notice how I say LEFT OF YOUR CHARACTER not WEST ON THE MAP. Learning this trick is crucial to getting fast Countess runs without MH and works so well, it’s nearly a substitute for MH. Once you get to Forgotten tower Lvl 5, teleport to the northwest room. As for the Countess herself, she should be a breeze for a powerful mercenary, especially a Holy Freeze A2 Merc with Reaper’s Toll. Lemme tell you, with decrep+holy freeze on the Countess’s minions and enough life leech, your mercenary shouldn’t even take a scratch. If there are other noncoldimmunes in the same room, kill them off then watch your merc do the work.

Andariel:

Sadly, there is no easy way to find the Catcombs Level 3 and 4. I just teleport randomly around til I find it. Andariel runs can give decent drops, but my main purpose for them is to kill the tons of unique monsters running around lvl 2 and 4, easily filling up my belt with Rejuvenation Potions, which are infinitely helpful against the tougher parts of the game. Andariel herself has piddly hp and should be a piece of cake. Just keep Blizzard on her, though you may have to play bullfighter if your merc can’t tank her.

Mephisto:

Ah, Mephisto, maybe the most MFed enemy in the game. Probably 80% of my worthwhile finds have come from Mephisto, and for good reason. He drops a good amount of items (from 3-5) and has a decent TC. Also, there are no other enemies that will intervene in a fight with him, he’s easy enough to get to and decently easy to kill. Now many of you are probably gnashing your teeth at the absolutely gigantic Durance of Hate Lvl 2 that was added in 1.10. However, there is a way to find Durance Lvl 3 easily. It’s the exact same as the Countess trick. Once you get through the wp, there’s always only one entrance out to the body of Lvl 2. (you’ll see what I mean) Face towards that entrance with your character, determine which direction is left for her, and hug the wall on that direction. This works at least, I would say, 90% of the time in Hell and Normal. It’s considerably less reliable in NM but can cut huge chunks of time out of every run (assuming you do them manual without MH). Stygian Dolls are the main danger while teleporting. They are extremely fast and explode when they die, dealing massive damage. However, your mercenary is impervious to these explosions. For Mephisto himself, you can rely on a good mercenary to tank him, but it is often difficult for a mercenary to be able to live for a long time against Mephisto for several reasons. One, a mercenary cannot leech against Mephisto. Two, Mephisto has powerful cold and lightning elemental attacks. Three, Mephisto’s strongest attack, the ice ball thing, does 1/2 physical damage and 1/2 cold damage, so a mercenary would have to have DR too to deal with Meph. However, if your mercenary can tank meph, then just hide behind him (preferably not right behind or else you’ll get hit by charged bolt) and cast blizzard. For those without a strong merc, however, you can also employ a tactic know as “moating.” The idea is to lure Mephisto backwards to the edge (I usually do this on the left side) of the “moat”, the gap that cuts Durance Lvl 3 through the center. Once he’s close to there, teleport to the other side of the screen, and position yourself so that Mephisto is on the very edge of your screen. If you do it right, Mephisto will wander around, not attacking you, leaving you free to Blizzard him without fear of retaliation. However, sometimes Maffer Dragonhand comes out to kill you or Bremm Sparkfist and his buddies cast a huge group of Hydras right where you are. If this happens, you’d be better off restarting or playing hit-and-run over on the other side of the moat. After you kill Mephisto and take his drops, teleport over to the portal and take it to act 4. This saves time because the waypoint in act 4 is so much easier to get to than the waypoint in act 5. To save additional time, remember to use telekinesis to take wps and such. Last of all, static is ineffective because of Mephisto’s high lightning resist.

Pindleskin:

Pindleskin is nearly the easiest enemy in the game for a Blizzard Sorc, even in 8 player Hell games. Pindle is located in the red portal next to Anya (after you’ve rescued her). An average Pindle run should go like this: Run down to the red portal, go through, teleport up so that you just barely make it through the entrance (you don’t want to go right up to pindle), cast glacial spike once to freeze the people in front, cast Blizzard once or twice (If Pindleskin is Cold Immune, restart or Static then let merc kill), get drops, quit.

Baal:

Baal is time-consuming and difficult, but the payoff can easily be worth it. Solo Baal runs require a good mercenary to defeat Cold Immune enemies, which are quite common. The first step to Baal runs is finding Worldstone Lvl 3 and the Throne of Destruction. There is a trick to finding them similar to the Durance 3 trick, but instead this time you hug the wall to the RIGHT of your character. While finding Worldstone lvl 3, you may encounter Black Souls, which are extremely dangerous. If you get hit by them, you might as well give up unless you have decent FHR or maxed resists. They fire fast enough to stun you and do huge amounts of damage. Carry Rejuvenation Potions just in case. The trick to dodging them is to always be teleporting lateral from them, not towards them or away from them. While finding the Throne, be careful not to be caught in the middle of a large group of Death Lords, whose Frenzy can easily stunlock and kill you. Once in the Throne, simply teleport to the back room unless there are Burning Souls, which can make that quite dangerous. Burning Souls are easy to defeat in the Throne because you can snipe at them around corners, or make your mercenary a distraction while you stand to the side and kill them. Aside from Burning Souls, there can also be several variations of Cold Immunes in the Throne. These include Dark Lords, Succubi, and Oblivion Knights. Kill the enemies that are not Cold Immune first before dealing with these. Out of those three, Oblivion Knights are the most dangerous. They can cast Amp Dmg, Iron Maiden, and Lower Resist, all of which can cause your mercenary to die in the blink of an eye. They also run like wusses. Not only that, they are counted as Undead enemies, which means Achmel will revive them when he comes out. Succubi can be annoying because they cast Blood Mana (makes your spells cost life rather than mana), but carry some potions and you should be fine. After clearing out the back room of the Throne, Colenzo the Annihilator will appear. This guy is pathetic. Just keep a Blizzard going on the spot he will appear and he’ll die the second he comes out. The next enemy, Achmel, is considerably harder. Keep a Blizzard going in the middle of where that...

Leveling Guide

A quick guide on where to level the fastest during each phase of the game. This is just my preferred method. Also, for levels 4-20, Hell Cows levels pretty fast too (if you can get there).

Level 1-5: Blood Moor
Level 6-10: Tristram
Level 11-12: Andariel
Level 13-17: Arcane
Level 18-23: Lam Esen Temples
Level 24: Ancients
Level 25-45: Normal Baal
Level 46-75: NM Baal
Level 76-80: Hell Baal
Level 80+: 8 Player Hell Pindle (Make games like “Free Ber Rune” and then kill Pindle)

Ideal PvP Setup

Ammy:
Mara’s Kaleidescope
Helm:
‘Jah’ Shako {for casters}
‘Ber’ Shako {for melee characters}
Weapon:
5/5 Cold Facet Death’s Fathom
Weapon Switch:
Call To Arms Crystal Sword
Shield:
Stormshield {for melee characters}
‘Um’ Lidless {for casters}
Shield Switch:
Lidless
Body Armor:
Chains of Honor Dusk Shroud
Rings:
2x Stone of Jordans
Belt:
Arachnid Mesh
Boots:
Eth Sandstorm Trek
Gloves:
Frostburn
Charms:
10x Cold Charms w/ +life
1x Annihilus
Rest of charms should be 20/5 life and resist, 5/5 resist and fhr, or 20/19 life and mana.

With this Equipment, resists should be 30{Mara’s}+20{Anni}+30{Anya Quests}+65{Chains of Honor}+22{Lidless}, and Death’s Fathom gives cold/fire res and Arachnid Mesh gives poison resist. If you’re fighting a Lightning element, put on Wisps and Tgods. Against Fire, put on Dwarf Stars. Against Cold, use Raven Frosts. Damage Reduction will hit 50. Put on Magefists if you find your teleport isn’t fast enough.

Stats should be (at level 90):

Strength: (sandstorm trek req) – (anni +stats) – 7
Dexterity: Max Block truly isn’t worth the effort, so leave this as base.
Vitality: All of Points
Energy: Base

Just my dream setup (I’ll probably be able to get this once Ladder ends besides maybe the charms, rune prices are too iffy on Ladder to get some of this stuff)

PvP Strategies

Blizzard is naturally ill-suited to dueling. It is a very inaccurate spell when used on a quick enemy, especially an enemy that’s continually teleporting. However, it can get up to huge amounts of damage, and Cold Mastery is infinitely valuable in PvP.

Mostly, to hit, you have to cast a blizzard somewhere between you and the character you're fighting, and immediately run away, or teleport away if they run faster than you or teleport. Because you are unable to cast blizzard and start teleporting immediately, you must make sure that your casts aren't a death sentence for yourself. Basically, you’ll be forced into a cat-and-mouse game where you have to set a trap for the cat and hope he runs straight into it. Most people, however, follow a predictable pattern when teleporting.

Z X Z-Start
|
Z | Z
Z


X is you and Z is their teleport path. The Bold Z is about where you should cast teleport to hit them. Again, this is only a general tactic and might be inapplicable to your duels.

Your worst enemies are ones who double Raven Frosts. Blizzard does piddly damage to them, and with its natural inaccuracy, it will be nearly impossible to beat them. Don't duel with these people.

Character Specific Strategies: (just for my most commonly seen builds)

Fire Sorc: Annoying as hell cuz they’ll never stop teleporting if you start to teleport run away from them. Don’t do that. If they just stand in one place spamming Fireballs, just run parallel to them and then Blizzard when you see the opportunity. If they don’t, try to time your dodges just right so that they’ll give up teleporting and just do that. Another thing you can do is set the Blizzard trap as shown above.

Trapsassin: If you don’t have FHR, give up now. Put on extra FHR charms and wear Bloodfists. A rule of thumb: Don’t fight on their territory, teleport away from their traps and hit them while they’re putting up more. If you get mindlocked, just desperately try to teleport out, not much more you can do.

Hammerdin: Stay away from those hammers and you should be fine.

WW Barb: A WW Barb is incredibly easy to dodge, even with a long-range weapon. Just keep teleporting and hit him while he’s WW’ing thin air.

FoH Pally: Stay just off their screen until you can effectively strike them down. Play a hit-and-run game with them. If they don’t have Enigma and don’t use charge effectively, you can probably just stay on their screen and see who can blow the crack out of the other faster. Because of FoH’s slow cast speed, you’ll probably win.

Smiter: Stay away, don’t get stunned, and keep setting traps for him here and there.

Bone Necro: Bone Spirits are rather easy to dodge. You can get to the edge of their screen, fire off a Blizzard at them, and run before they hit you. If they suddenly switch to Bone Spear, which travels a lot faster, you’ll have trouble, however. When the opposing Necro has Enigma, it becomes extremely difficult to beat them. It’s all about hit-and-run again.

Mercenaries

Mercenaries are an incredibly useful companion to any Sorceress. They are able to withstand many times the number of blows a Sorc could take, they tank enemies to allow Sorcs to freely attack, and they can compensate for the lack of multiple elements to deal with immunities. In my opinion, the melee mercenaries (A2 and A5) are much more useful than the ranged ones because of the tanking ability. NOTE: items used on a mercenary do not lose durability. Therefore, it’s always preferred to have everything be ethereal.

Act I: The Act I mercenaries are Rogues, ranged attackers who use a bow (however, Rogues cannot use Amazon-only bows). The Rogue comes in two flavors: fire arrow and cold arrow. While you may think Cold Arrow is obviously better, it is not. Fire Arrow has twice the range of Cold Arrow, and Fire Arrow rogues level up noticeably faster. I prefer the Fire Arrow one. Out of the two ranged attackers (A1 and A3), Rogues are better IMO.
Good Equipment:
Windforce
BOTD Hydra Bow
Eaglehorn
Shaft
Dury’s Shell
Leviathan
Chains of Honor
Stone
Delirium
Gaze
Tals Mask
Andariel’s Visage

Act II: My favorite mercenaries, they come with one of six auras.

Norm+Hell:
Offensive: Blessed Aim
Defensive: Defiance
Combat: Prayer

NM:
Offensive: Might
Defensive: Holy Freeze
Combat: Thorns

These are melee mercenaries that use spears and polearms. They can do good amounts of damage in addition to having a useful aura. For a Sorc, the most useful auras are the defensive ones. Defiance adds a colossal defense boost, helping greatly against melee attackers, and Holy Freeze can a) colds all enemies, even Cold Immunes and add some cold damage to Merc’s weapon. I like Holy Freeze better because Cold+Decrepify from Reaper’s Toll makes Cold Immunes a breeze, but they take too long to train.
Good Equipment:
BOTD War Pike
Doom War Pike
Bonehew
Reaper’s Toll (DECREPIFY ROCKS)
Tomb Reaver
Shaft
Dury’s Shell
Leviathan
Chains of Honor
Stone
Delirium
Gaze
Tals Mask
Andariel’s Visage

Act III: My least favorite mercenaries: they can’t tank and don’t do as much damage as others.

These mercenaries use a sword and a shield, but are primarily casters. They come in 3 types: lightning, fire, and cold. While the Cold one is useful in the early stages of the game, these mercenaries are essentially useless. Get a different one.

Act V: These Barbarians are powerful, attack really fast, and stun+knockback the enemy. These are probably the second best mercenary and make excellent tanks.

Good Equipment:
BOTD CB
GF
CCB
Doombringer
Shaft
Dury’s Shell
Leviathan
Chains of Honor
Stone
Delirium
Gaze
Tals Mask
Arreats
Andariel’s Visage

Appendixes

Fast Cast Breakpoints

-------------------------------
| Frames per Second
fast cast | normal Lit/CL
-----------+-------------------
0- 8 | 13 17
9- 19 | 12 16
20- 36 | 11 15
37- 62 | 10 14
63-104 | 9 13
105-199 | 8 12
200+ | 7 11
-------------------------------

Max Block Chart DEX = (Total Block * clvl * 2 / Chance to Block) + 15

| Character Level
Shield (Chance to Block) | 75 80 85 90 95 99
-------------------------------+------------------------------
| Dexterity Needed
Whinstan's Guard (87%) | 145 153 162 171 179 186
Viscerataunt Heater (72%) | 172 182 193 203 213 222
Stormshield (67%) | 183 195 206 217 228 237
Sanctuary Tower Shield (64%) | 191 203 215 226 238 248
Sanctuary Monarch (62%) | 197 209 221 233 245 255
Sanctuary Troll Nest (60%) | 203 215 228 240 253 262
Sanctuary Dragon Shield (58%) | 209 222 235 248 261 272